Can You Hear Me Now?

When I called AT&T this morning to inquire why my IPhone wasn’t working, I didn’t really expect it would become a big deal.

After 10 minutes on hold, the customer service rep I finally spoke with informed me that my service had been suspended because my payment was past due.  After a quick check with our bookkeeper, I was able to inform her that the payment had been made almost two weeks ago and that it must have been misapplied.

My expectation was that a company that had worked so hard to get me to become a customer would simply allow me to pay online, adjust the misapplied payment and get the phone working again.

Boy, was I wrong!

She proceeded to tell me that she had no record of a payment and that the service would remain suspended until the payment was received.  Moreover, she informed me that  I would be charged a $36.00 reconnect fee and it might take several days to reactivate the phone after payment was received.   Finally, she went out of her way to lecture me on the point that I should make my payment at least 10 days before the due date to give them time to apply it properly.

It was clear that she didn’t believe me when I said I intended to terminate my contract.

It’s now five hours later.  The AT&T contract is terminated.  I have a new account with Verizon (at a considerable savings) and a brand new Google Android phone.  It took Verizon all of 15 minutes to port my number and activate the phone.  (AT&T had taken two days!)

I had gone to the Verizon store just to see what my options might be for new phone service, but was met with such a high level of customer service by a knowledgeable sales person that I left with the new Google smart phone and new phones for everyone else on  my account as well.  It was the first time I had ever left a cell phone store not feeling like I had been beaten with a rock.

Tomorrow I’ll return the AT&T Microcell that I had to buy to get cell coverage at my home, even though the AT&T service maps show that my location should have been covered.

As to the $175.00 AT&T termination fee, I’ll gladly pay it and make a matching charitable contribution as well.

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